A9神話到負債百萬，Meme玩家5年沉浮錄

Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)

Author | Golem (@web3_golem)

Da Gen is an ordinary civil servant within the system—a stable job with high social recognition. Especially in the current environment of an AI revolution outbreak and unstable job market, many young people are willing to go to great lengths to enter this stable and secure system. The internet often uses the term "上岸" (ashore) to describe young people who have successfully passed the civil service exam, suggesting they have successfully escaped from the "sea of suffering."

However, the system is also a city wall: those outside want to get in, and some inside want to get out. Da Gen is one of those "insiders" who wanted out, and he stepped into the crypto circle 5 years ago.

"Being a civil servant is great in every way, but the income is relatively low. I also want to earn money early and retire. Besides, young people stuck in such a routine environment where 'life is predictable at a glance' definitely want to challenge themselves." Wanting to make big money and challenge himself were the main reasons Da Gen chose to enter the crypto circle. But perhaps Da Gen didn't realize back then that he would achieve both goals he set when entering the circle, just not at the same time.

2025 was the most turbulent year for Da Gen: He got close to A9 in wealth by seizing the opportunity of Trump's token launch (TRUMP), becoming a hidden crypto tycoon, but also ended up with millions in debt that same year due to "market making" multiple Meme coins at a loss.

What exactly happened to Da Gen? How did this dramatic rise and fall affect his mindset? To understand Da Gen's crypto journey of ebbs and flows, Odaily Planet Daily conducted an exclusive interview with him. The transcript is organized as follows, hoping to provide insights for readers.

The Rise: Entered the Circle via DOGE, One of the Earliest Meme Players, TRUMP Single Coin Nearly Hit A9

Odaily: How did you make your first pot of gold after entering the circle?

Da Gen: Let me start from the beginning. I entered the crypto circle around the end of April 2021. I was attracted by the overwhelming news about DOGE. Between April and May that year, DOGE surged over 10 times, and its all-time high ($0.73) was also set around that time. Although I was a rookie just entering the circle, ignorance is bliss. I used 30,000 RMB to trade DOGE futures, going long with leverage, and rolled it up to over 2 million in less than a month.

Odaily: How did that feel?

Da Gen: I was just very happy, feeling instantly that I had come to the right place. The crypto circle is indeed a place full of opportunities. That was my first time making big money. But that money didn't stay in my pocket for long, because during the "519" crash that year, I basically lost everything I had earned from DOGE on a single trade.

Odaily: After "519," the crypto circle entered a bear market. Did you make money in any other tracks afterward?

Da Gen: I didn't choose to leave the circle. After 519, I kept chasing hot topics in the crypto circle, but I didn't make any big money from 2021 to 2023. It wasn't until early 2024 that I noticed some small-cap tokens on the Solana chain on the MEXC exchange were surging incredibly, even by 20 to 30 times. At that time, very few Chinese players had gotten involved in this area yet.

So, I started searching for token information on Twitter. There was no convenient tool like GMGN back then. I manually tracked some addresses daily using Solscan, catching many opportunities early on, such as BONK, WIF, and POPCAT. Through these Meme coins, my assets reached A8 by early 2024.

Odaily: So you are considered one of the earliest Chinese players to play Meme coins. Which Meme coin made you the most money?

Da Gen: Because I made money in 2024, I became very confident in Meme coins and the primary market. If I liked a coin, I would at least invest tens of thousands of dollars. And because the market was good, I kept getting positive feedback. But gains and losses come from the same source; this habit eventually led to my debt. (Details later)

The Meme coin that made me the most money was TRUMP, issued by Trump in early 2025. This was also the closest I ever got to A9. I bought TRUMP very early, around $0.7. At that time, I monitored the address 0xsun on-chain buying about $2 million worth of TRUMP at around $0.6. Then I researched and found a legitimate purchase payment channel on the official website. I felt it was probably not a scam, so I bought $100,000.

Eventually, when the price of TRUMP rose to a high of over $70, I cashed out gradually during the process and exited.

The Fall: Continuously Bottom-Fishing Meme Coins Led to Losses, Blacklisted the BSC Chain, Millions in Debt

Odaily: You achieved such a great result with TRUMP. Why didn't you choose to retire?

Da Gen: I still had an obsession with reaching A9. I was just a little short at that point. I thought I could make it easily, but I didn't expect the process to become so tortuous. I completely failed to realize that market liquidity had gradually deteriorated after TRUMP. In the end, due to this obsession, I lost almost all the money I had previously earned.

Odaily: Can you elaborate on your loss process?

Da Gen: I liked to bottom-fish Meme coins in two phases, but in reality, after TRUMP, the vast majority of Memes were just one-shot pumps. I completely didn't expect capital and attention to exit so quickly. Once a Meme coin drops, there really is no bottom. Coupled with my relatively large position sizing, I ended up losing a lot of money.

For example, GOAT. I bottom-fished nearly $900,000 when it dropped to $0.3, holding nearly 1% of the supply. Compared to the high point, the price had already dropped 90%, but I didn't expect it could drop another 90% from there. Similar losses occurred with VINE, TST, and BROCCOLI (714).

Odaily: After experiencing such a major loss, didn't you adjust your strategy?

Da Gen: This is the problem of path dependency. Because this was how I had been making money all along, I believed this method was eternally applicable, ignoring the changes in market environment and liquidity.

After holding large amounts of chips, I also participated in community building. For instance, with BROCCOLI (714), I was in a small group with Paris Ge and others. We tried to find ways for 714 to get listed on Binance spot before the other two identically named Meme coins. (Odaily note: BROCCOLI is the name of CZ's pet dog, but there were three identically named Meme coins on the market at the time. Binance ultimately adopted a community voting method for listing.)

Odaily: What did you do to build BROCCOLI (714)?

Da Gen: One person in our small group directly sent 1% of the tokens to CZ's address. Based on the $100 million market cap at the time, it should have been worth $1 million. Then, because Binance also held a trading competition, we organized and called on people to boost trading volume, combined with our daily tweeting and shilling. We even considered developing offline promotions, but later gave up due to the domestic regulatory environment. No one was willing to take the lead on this.

But honestly, this coin wasn't being "manipulated" by our small group. Ultimately, we were just some big holders with more chips, all trying to build our own positions. We couldn't control the final outcome. Although BROCCOLI (714) eventually got listed on Binance spot, and we kept trying to support the price, it still dropped 90%, and I lost over $1 million.

Odaily: How did this setback affect you later?

Da Gen: BROCCOLI (714) was the straw that broke the camel's back, both financially and strategically. There was a saying circulating in the community: Good projects don't need people to build them; projects that need building are just trying to lure people in to take over their bags. BROCCOLI (714) perfectly proved this point. This led me to develop a feeling of disgust and disappointment towards the BSC chain and projects run by Chinese teams. I haven't played any BSC chain Meme since then.

Odaily: Actually, BROCCOLI (714) was a hot Meme on BSC in the first half of 2025. After that, multiple Meme booms occurred on the BSC chain, like Binance Life in the second half of the year. Did you not pay attention anymore?

Da Gen: After BROCCOLI (714), I basically blacklisted the BSC chain. Looking back now, I missed the entire BSC bull market of 2025. But this is paying for my own cognition. I only started playing BSC Memes again at the beginning of this year because I only recently realized I shouldn't be biased against any chain or project.

Odaily: So, to be precise, apart from making close to A9 on TRUMP at the beginning of 2025, you were gradually losing money for the rest of the year?

Da Gen: Small wins, big losses. Especially after BROCCOLI (714), I went PvP on other chains and wore down all the money I had previously earned within a few months. On one hand, I didn't have many backup plans left and was afraid to try too many things. On the other hand, I got a bit traumatized from the losses, became timid and paper-handed, and lost the stable mindset I had before.

Starting around August last year, when I didn't have enough money on the exchange to squander, I began taking out bank loans.

Odaily: So you are in debt now?

Da Gen: I owe about 1 million RMB. My desire to break even was too strong at that time; I wasn't very rational anymore.

Odaily: Didn't you think about switching to another track? For example, playing altcoins, prediction markets, RWA, or even US stocks? Or were you solely focused on Memes?

Da Gen: I didn't consider altcoins. I considered US stocks, but trading US stocks wasn't as convenient last year as it is now. Now, both DEXs and CEXs offer low-barrier channels for crypto people to trade US stocks. Those didn't exist back then. Also, traditional brokerage platforms for US stocks had asset requirements, which was already a bit difficult for me, so I gave up that idea.

Ultimately, I still believe the crypto circle is the best place for making small capital grow big, and it's also something I'm good at. Fall down seven times, get up eight. So I've been sticking to the Meme field until now.

Odaily: When you were close to A9 in early 2025, didn't you think about cashing out and saving or buying some real estate?

Da Gen: I did withdraw some, but later I deposited it back trying to recoup losses. After making the money, I didn't spend it on big purchases like cars or houses because I already have a car and a house. Given my job, I don't have much need for luxury cars or mansions either.

Odaily: How big is the落差 (gap/contrast) in your lifestyle after going into debt? Has it affected your family relationships?

Da Gen: In terms of lifestyle, my consumption level has plummeted. I still have to pay the bank a lot of money every month, and I'm almost unable to keep up, so it has had some impact on my family. It hasn't reached the point of selling the car or house yet, but if it continues to deteriorate, I might have to sell them eventually.

Odaily: Looking back on your five years in the circle, what are your thoughts? You originally had a stable "iron rice bowl," but these five years in the crypto circle have been full of ups and downs, and now you're even in debt.

Da Gen: I might just be a microcosm of countless people in this market. I used to hear that the most common type of person in this circle is someone who gets rich overnight and then goes bankrupt. I never thought I would end up in this situation myself.

The biggest lesson I've learned is not to be too path-dependent and not to be overly optimistic. If there's a chance to turn things around, I want to use my past experience and knowledge to take one more shot.

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